NYC Councilman Bill Perkins taken to hospital after neighbors called police on him for acting erratically

NYC City Council Member Bill Perkins, seen in 2017, was taken into custody by police Thursday night after acting erratically. (Howard Simmons / New York Daily News)

City Councilman Bill Perkins was taken to the hospital Thursday night after neighbors called the police on him for acting erratically in his Manhattan home, the Daily News has learned.

Perkins, 68, was shouting and throwing things in his Harlem apartment when cops from the 23rd Precinct arrived around 9:30 p.m., a police source said. The councilman smelled of booze, was combative and irrational when officers arrived at his Fifth Ave. home and initially would not let them in, police sources said. Perkins eventually unlocked the door for cops, the sources said.

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Gas was turned off in the building because cops smelled noxious fumes, authorities said. A source told The News he was taken to Metropolitan Hospital for a psychological evaluation.

Even colleagues and constituents who support Perkins say that the episode highlights a deeper issue regarding Perkins failing health and calls into question his ability to perform his role as a lawmaker.

Perkins, who represents District 9, was once a driving force in Harlem and city politics — he led the charge for lead-paint inspection laws in the Council in the 1990s — and is still beloved by his many of his constituents.

But Perkins, by his own admission, has been on an intense drug regimen as result of his colon cancer treatment and some close to him worry may have caused cognitive issues, the politician said.

“Increasingly, people who deal with the office have been frustrated and I would say even alarmed at just the lack of presence,” the fellow pol, who declined to be named, told the News.

“I think people who care about him are concerned about him. I think that people who would relish getting him out, some of them have been busy amplifying this message for now a couple of years. But I do think it calls into question his self-sufficiency at this point,” he said.

"... Last night, smoke generating from burning food resulted in fire and police response, some noise and commotion and a hospital visit,” Perkins said. “I thank the responders for their work and help," he added.

The longtime Harlem politician acknowledged that he has experienced some “health issues" as a result of colon cancer treatment he endured after his 2005 diagnosis.

“I am working with doctors to manage these concerns,” Perkins explained. “As someone who runs marathons and has overcome obstacles my entire life, I look forward to conquering these challenges and continuing to serve this community I love and have fought for."